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Watch, alert, crisis: understanding water restriction levels

Published on November 10, 2026

When water runs short, the prefect can restrict how it is used. Since 2021, the whole of France uses the same four severity levels: watch (vigilance), alert (alerte), heightened alert (alerte renforcée) and crisis (crise). This guide explains what each one means and what it changes for watering a garden.

The measures described here are the national minimums. The decree for your area can be stricter, and it is always the decree that applies.

Who decides, and for which area

  • The prefect of the département. A "framework" decree sets in advance the triggering thresholds and the measures for each level. When a threshold is crossed, the prefect issues a restriction decree, temporary and dated, which states the level in force.
  • By alert zone, not by commune. An alert zone follows a river basin or an aquifer. A single commune can therefore be covered by several zones, at different levels.
  • Depending on where the water comes from. There are zones for tap water, for surface water (rivers, canals) and for groundwater (aquifers). For tap water, what normally counts is the level where you use it, not the level of the resource it comes from. With a well, a borehole or a pump in a river, the level of the groundwater or surface water zone applies: restrictions also cover this water.
  • The mayor can issue a municipal decree at least as strict as the prefect's.

The four levels

Watch: no restriction yet

The situation may get worse without rain in the coming weeks. Nothing is banned: households, businesses and local authorities are asked to save water.

Alert: the first restrictions

There is no longer enough water for every use while protecting rivers and aquifers. The first bans apply, mainly during the hottest hours.

Heightened alert: stronger restrictions

The situation is getting worse: not all water withdrawals can be met at the same time. Restrictions are tightened to avoid reaching a crisis.

Crisis: priority uses only

Water is kept for essentials: drinking water, health, hygiene, civil protection, watering animals and keeping rivers and wetlands alive. Non-priority uses stop, except for the exemptions set by the decree.

What it changes for watering

National minimum measures for a household:

Vegetable garden

  • Watch: no ban, saving water is encouraged.
  • Alert: watering banned between 11 am and 6 pm.
  • Heightened alert and crisis: watering banned from 9 am to 8 pm.

Lawns, flower beds, trees and shrubs

  • Watch: no ban.
  • Alert: watering banned between 11 am and 6 pm.
  • Heightened alert and crisis: watering banned, except for trees and shrubs planted in the ground less than two years ago, which can be watered from 8 pm to 9 am.

A vegetable garden therefore keeps an evening and morning window even in a crisis, because it produces food. But many decrees are stricter than these minimums: longer banned hours, a number of waterings per week, watering can only… Water-saving methods (watering can, drip irrigation, ollas) get no exemption at national level; some decrees grant one, others do not.

Decrees also cover other uses: filling swimming pools, washing cars, cleaning patios… They are listed on each commune's page, under "Other restrictions".

Collected rainwater

The national guide states that these measures do not apply to collected rainwater, for example from a water butt or tank. Still check the decree for your area before watering: some only partly exempt rainwater, as the guide Collecting rainwater explains.

Penalties

Breaking a restriction decree is a 5th-class offence: a fine of up to €1,500 for an individual, for each offence recorded.

Finding out where your commune stands

  1. Search for your commune on J'arrose ?: its page shows the level in force and the watering hours taken from the decree, with a link to the decree when one is published.
  2. Read the decree if in doubt: it is the only text that applies.
  3. Check back regularly: a decree has an end date, but it can be extended, tightened or lifted early depending on the weather.

When watering is banned, mulching remains the best way to keep the water of the last rain: it uses no water.

Sources (in French)